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SENATE,  FebruihCT  2<yifil63-r3^M^  and 

ordered  to  be  placed  oTss^e  <MJ|iP;J^:^fi|  \Jl:mtVa^^  23, 

1863.  Ordered  t 


[By  Mr.  Sparrow,  from  Committee  on  Military  Affairs.]  ., 


A^   BILL 

To  be  entitled  an  Act  defining  who  shall  be  exempt  from  military 
service  in  the  armies  of  the  Confederate  States. 

1  Section  1 .   The  Congress  of  the  Confederate  States  of  America  do 

2  enact,  That  the  following    named  persons  are  hereby  exempte,d 

3  from  service  in  the  armies  of  the  Confederate   States,  upon  the 

4  terms  and  conditions  hereinafter  stated  : 

5  I.  Those  who  shall  be  held  unfit  for  service  in  the  field  by 

6  reason   of  bodily  or   mental  incapacity,  to  be   ascertained  by  a 

7  surgeon  of  the  army  who   is   not  a  resident  of  the  part  of  the 

8  country  from  which  those  he  is  called  upon  to  examine  may  have 

9  come ;  and  persons  declared  to  be   unfit  for  duty  in   the  field 

10  under  this  act  or  under   the   act  entitled  **  An  Act  to  establish 

1 1  places    of   rendezvous   for  the   examination   of   enrolled   men," 

12  approved  October  llth,  1862,  by  reason  of  any  organic  disease, 

13  or  permanent  disability,  shall  not  be   afterwards  subject 'to  be 

14  again  examined  and  enrolled. 

15  II.  The  Vice  President,  the  officers,  judicial  and  executive,  of 


16  the  Confederate^ud  oState  Gevernmeiitd,  including  postmasters 

17  appointed  by  the   President   and   confirmed  by  the   Senate,  and 

^        ■  -   •  •  *■       • 

'  ■-    "        i' 

18  such  clerks  in  th;e^r''*ojfti§es  as  argaiow  allowed  by  the  Postmaster 

19  General,  and  were  employed  therein  on_^thc  16th  of  April  last; 

20  excluding  all  other  postmasters,  their  assistants  and  clerks,  and 

21  such  State  officers  as  the   several   States  may  have  declared  or 

22  may  hereafter  declare,  by  law,  to  be   liable  to  militia  duty ;    the 

23  members   of    Congress   of    the    Confederate    States    and   of   the 

24  Legislatures  of  the  several  States,  and  their  respective  officers  ; 

25  all  clerks   in   the  offices  of  the  Confederate  and   State  Govern- 

26  ments  authorized  by  law  and  receiving  salaries  or  fees  fixed  by 

27  law  :   Provided,  this  act  shall  not  be   construed  to  exempt  from 

28  service    persons    appointed    by    the    officers    of    the    Executive 

29  Departments,  or  by  other  executive  authority,  since  tlie  16th  of 

30  April,    1«62,    and    who    were    liable    to    military    service  when 

31  appointed,  under  the  various  acts  of  enrolment. 

32  III.   All  volunteer  troops  heretofore  raised  by  any  State  since 

33  the  passage  of  the  act  entitled  "  An  Act  further  to  provide  for 

34  the  public  defence,"  approved  April  16,  1862,  while  such  troops 

« 

3.5  shall  be  in  active  service  under  State  authority  :    Prmuded,  That 

36  this  exemption   shall   not  apply  to  any  person  who  was   liable  to 

37  be  called  into  service  by  virtue  of  slid  act  of  16th  April,  1862. 

38  IV.  All  pilots  and  persons  engaged  in  the  merchant  marine  ser- 

39  vice,  excluding  such  owners  of  vessels  as  are  not  actually  employed 


40  in  navigating  the  same  ;  the  president,  and  such  superintendents, 

41  roadmasters,  station-agents,  conductors,  engineers  and  mechanics, 

42  in  the  permanent  service  of  railroad  companies,  as  the  President 

43  thereof  may,  under  oath,  declare  to  be  necessary;  not  to  include 

44  laborers  or  any  other  employees  :  Provided,  That  no  president  or 

45  conductor  of  any  railroad  company,  or  railroad  train,  shall  be 

46  exempted   from   military   service    under   this    act,    when    such 

47  president  or  conductor  shall  fail,  neglect,  or  refuse  to  furnish 

48  seats  to  such  wounded  or  sick  soldiers  of  the  army  as  may  desire 

49  transportation  over  such  railroad,  and  fresh  water,  for  drinking 

50  purposes,  in  such  tanks  or  other  vessels  in   each  passenger  car, 

51  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  use  of  said  sick  and  wounded,  and 

52  also  the  necessary  fires  to  render  said  cars  comfortable  ;  captains 

53  of  boats,  and  the  engineers  and  pilots  thereof,  actually  engaged 

54  in  canal  and  river  navigation  :  the  president  of  any  canal  com- 

55  pany,  the  secretary,  chief  clerks,  chief  toll-gatherer,  and  such 
od  mechanics   in   the  permanent  service   of  said  company,  as  the 

57  president,  under  oath,  shall  declare  to  be  necessary  ;  the  presi- 

58  dent,  general  superintendent  and  operators  of  telegraphic  com- 

59  panics,  and  the  local  operators  of  said  companies,  not  to  exceed 
till  two  in  number  at  any  telegraphic  office  but  that  at  the  seat  of 

61  government  of  the  Confederate  States. 

62  V.  One   editor   of  each  newspaper  now  being  published,  and 

63  such  journeymen    printers,   engineers,    pressmen,   stenographic 


64  reporters  and  mailing  clerks,  as  the  editor  or  proprietor  thereof 

65  may  certify,  upon  oath,  to  be  indispensable  for  conducting  the 

66  publication ;  the  public  printer,  engineers,  pressmen,  and  such 

67  number  of 'journeymen  printers  as  he  may  certify,  upon  oath,  to 

68  be  necessary  for  the  discharge  of  his  duty. 

69  VI.  Every  minister  of  religion  authorized  to  preach  according 

70  to  the  rules  of  his  sect,  and  now  in  the  regular  discharge  of  min- 

71  isterial  duties,  and  all  persons  who  have  been  since  the   16th 

72  April,  1862,  and  now  are  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  or 

73  the  Association  of  Dunkards,  Nazarines  or  Menonists  in  regular 

74  membership   in  their  respective  denominations:   Provided,  That 

75  such  members   shall  furnish  a  substitute;  or  pay   a  tax   of  five 

76  hundred  dollars  each,  into  the  public  treasury. 

77  VII.    All  shoemakers,  tanners,  blacksmiths,  wagon  makers, 

78  millers  and  their  engineers,  and  mill  wrights, -skilled  and  actually 

79  employed  on  the  16th  of  April  last,  in  said  trades  as  their  regu- 

80  lar  vocation,  and  working  therein  for  the  public,  and  who  have, 

81  since  said   time,  been  so  regularly   employed:     Provided,   Said 

82  persons  shall  make  oath  in  writing,  and  present  the  same  to  the 

83  enrolling  officer,  that  they  are  so  skilled  and  are,  and  have  been 

84  since  the    16th  of  April  last,  actually  employed  in  one   of  the 

85  above  trades,  as  their  regular  vocations,  and  working  for  the 

86  public,  which  affidavit  shall,  however,  only  be  prima  facie  evidence 

87  of  the   facts  therein   stated*      Also,   the    superintendents   and 


s 

88  operatives  in  wool  and  cotton  factories,  paper  mills,  and  carding 

89  machines,  and  in  card  factories,  and  factories  for  the  manufacture 

90  of    wire     for    cotton    and    wool    cards :       Provided,    That    the 

91  exemptions   herein    granted    to     persons    on    account    of    their 

92  mechanical    skill    or   occupation,    shall  be    subject   to  the   con- 

93  dition  that  the   products    of    the    labor    of    said  exempts    shall 

94  not  exceed  a   fair    and  reasonable    amount,    and    to    be    within 

95  a  maximum   to  be  fixed  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  under  such 

96  regulations  as  he  may  prescribe  :  And  provided,  That  in  the  case 

97  the  superintendents  and  operatives  in  wool  and  cotton  factories, 

98  paper  mills,  carding  machines,  and  mechanics   in   these  and  all 

99  other  manufacturing  establishments,  the  manufactured   articles 
1(10  shall  be  sold  at  a  profit  not  to  exceed  thirty  per  centum  per 

101  annum  upon  the  nett  capital  invested,  which  foot  shall  be  ascer- 

102  tainedby  the  oath  of  the  president,  superintendent.  Or  proprietors 

103  of  such  manufacturing  establishment:  And  provided,   That  if  it 

104  shall  be  shown,  upon  evidence  to  be  submitted  to  and  judged  of 

105  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  that  any  manufacturing  establishment 

106  has  violated  this  condition,  the  exemptions  herein  granted  shall 

107  no  longer  be  extended  to  the  persons  employed  in  said  establish- 

108  ments  or  factories,  but  each  of  them   shall  be  forthwith  enrolled 

109  and  placed  in  the  military  service. 

110  VIII.  All  presidents  and  teachers  of  schools,  academies,  col- 
Ill  leges    and    theological    seminaries,     who    have    been    regularly 


n 

112  engaged  as  such  for  the  two  years  last  preceding  the  1  Ith  Octo- 

113  ber,  1862,  or  who  were  engaged  in  teaching  school  as  a  profes- 

114  sion  on  the  1st  of  January,  1861,  and  \jho  are  now  so  engaged; 
llo  all    superintendents     of     lunatic     asylums     and     the     regular 

116  physicians,  nurses  and  attendants  therein,  and  all  teachers  reg- 

117  ularly  employed  in  the  institutions  for  the  deaf,  dumb  and  blind. 

118  IX,  All  physicians  who  now  are,  and  have  been  for  the  last 

119  five  years  in  the  actual  practice  of  their  profession;  and  in  each 

120  apothecary  store  now  established  and  doing  business,  one  prac- 

121  tical  apothecary  in  good  standing  as  such. 

122  X. .  All  artisans  and  mechanics  employed  in   the  manufacture 

123  of  arms  or  ordnance  of  any  kind  by   the  several  States,  or  by 

124  contractors  to  furnish  the  same  to  the  several  State  Governments, 

125  whom  the   Governor  or  Secretary  of  State  thereof  may   certify 

126  to  be  necessary  to  the  same. 

127  XI.  All  persons  engaged  in  the  construction   of  ships,  gun- 

128  boats,  engines  or  sails,  necessary  to  the  public  defence,  under 

129  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

130  XII,  All  superintendents  and  employees  engaged  at  salt  works 

131  conducted  under  authority  of  any  State,  and  all  superintendents 

132  of   laborers  engaged  in  the    manufacture  or  mining  of  salt,  to 

133  the  extent  of  twenty  bushels  per  day:    Provided,  That  there  is 

1 34  not  more  than  one  superintendent  for  every  twenty  laborers ;  all 

135  superintendents  of  laborers  (not  to  exceed  one  for  every  twenty 


7 

136  laborers)  engaged  regularly  in  the  production  of  lead  or  iron,  or 

137  in  burning  coke  for  smelting  or  the  manufacture  of  iron;  regular 

138  and  skilled  miners  in  coal  mines,  and  colliers  engaged  in  making 

139  charcoal  for  making  pig  and  bar  iron. 

14(J  XIII.   For  the  police  of  slaves,  one  person  on   each  farm  or 

141  plantation,  the  sole  property  of  a  minor,  a  person  of  unsound 

142  mind,  a  femme  sole,  or  a  person  absent  from  home  in  the  military 

143  or  naval  service  of  the  Confederacy,  on  which  there  are  twenty 

144  or  more  slaves:   Provided,  The  person  so  exempted  was  employed 

145  and  acting  as  an  overseer  previous  to  the  IGth  of  April  last,  and 

146  there  is  no  white  male  adult  on  said  farm  or  plantation  who'is  not 

147  liable  to  military  duty,  which  fact  shall  be  verified  by  the  affidavits 

148  of  said  person  and  two  respectable  citizens,  and  shall  be  filed  with 

149  the   enrolling   officer:  And  provided,    That  the   enrolling  officer 

150  shall  be  satisfied  that  no  white  male  adult  not  liable  to  military 

151  duty    can  be   procured  by   ordinary  diligence,   suitable   for  said 

1 52  purpose  :  Providtd,  further,  That  this  clause  shall  not  extend  to 

153  any  farm  or  pla.ntation  on  which   the  negroes  have  been  placed 
151  by  division  from  any  other  fiirm  or  plantation  since  the  11th  day 

155  of  October,  J 862. 

156  XI^^   That  on  any  farm  on  which  resides  a  family  of  white 

157  women    and   children    not   less    than    ten    in    number,  who  are 

158  dependent  for  support  and  protection  on  the  labor  and  presence 
158  of  a.  white  man,  and  on  which  there  is  uo  white  malo  adult  not 


8 
16(1  liable  to  military  duty,  or  male  minor  or  minors  capable  of  vrork- 

161  ing  said  farm,  there  shall  be  exempted  one  person   as   laborer, 

162  when  said  person  shall  verify  the  facts  aforesaid  by  his  own  and 

163  the   affidavits   of  two   respectable  citizens,   to  be  filed   with  the 

164  enrolling  officer,  and  shall  also  make  affidavit  that  said  person  so 

« 

165  to  be  exempted,  designs  in  good  faith  to  act  in  said  capacity  on 

166  said  farm  ;   and  in  the  event  of  a  failure  to  do  so,   at   any  time 

167  thereafter,  this  exemption  as  to  said  person  shall  cease  :  Provided, 

168  The  enrolling  officer  shall  be  satisfied  that  a  white  maleadult,  not 

169  liable  to  military  duty,   cannot  be  procured  suitable  for  said 

170  purpose.  • 

171  XV.     Such  other  persons   as  the   President  shall   be  satisfied 

172  on  account  of  justice,  equity,  or  necessity,  ought  to  be  exempted. 

1  Sec.  2.  That  all  exemptions  granted  by  law  shall  only  continue 

2  whilst  the  person  is  holding  the  office  or  engaged  in  the   pursuit 

3  or^  occupation  by  reason  of  which  the  exemption  was  granted, 

4  and  nothing  in  this  act  or  any  other  in  relation  to  exemptions,      * 

5  shall  be  construed  so  as  to  exempt  agents,  clerks,  or  other  persons 

6  employed  by  officers  in  the  quartermaster,  commissary  or  other 

7  departments  of  the  Government,  unless  such  ag^ts  or  clerks  are 

8  allowed  by  law,  and  their  fees  or  salaries  fixed  by  law ;  nor  shall 

9  anything  herein   contained  be  construed  so  as  to  authorize  the 

10  discharge  of  any   one   now    in    the    military   service    of    the 

1 1  CoLfederate  Government. 


9 

1  Sec.  3.  That  all  laws  and  parts  of  laws  providing  for  exemption 

2  from  military  service  are  hereby  repealed,  except  as   provided 

3  herein ;  and  no  person  exempted  under  previous  laws  shall  con- 

4  tinue  to  be  exempted  unless  embraced  within  tlie  provisions,  and 

5  on  the  terms  and  conditions  of  this  Act.     The  provisions  of  this 

6  Act  shall  apply  to  all  persons  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 

7  forty-five  years,  not  in  tlie  military  service. 


